Meltdown Threat at a Sixth Fukushima Reactor

A 6th Reactor at Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant Faces Core Meltdown

Pressure buildup has reached a critical level in a sixth reactor at Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant, Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency has said in a statement.

Authorities are pumping in massive amounts of seawater to cool down all the reactors at the two Fukushima plants.

Radiation has reportedly been detected outside more than one reactor unit as a total of 6 reactors are either undergoing at least partial meltdown, or face the eminent threat of  explosion or meltdown

Meanwhile, Japan govt has mobilized a rescue team consisting of more than 100,000 personnel to assist victims of the deadly earthquake and tsunami.

According to the latest NHK news bulletin, the rescue and recovery teams in Miyagi prefecture have recovered  another 200 bodies. The official death toll currently stands at more than 1,000, with another 1,000 reported as missing,  but the total could reach into many thousands, possibly tens of thousands.

A video of the first explosion at Fukushima Plant No. 1

Comment by an Expert

“An early tipoff that Japanese authorities felt that events at Fukushima were very serious was the ordering of an evacuation within a couple of hours of the earthquake.  Though the area was small and the evacuation was called ‘precautionary,’ the fact is that ordering several thousand more people into motion during the immediate aftermath of a major earthquake and tsunami is something that no government would do if it could possibly help it.” Said a former member of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Peter Bradford.

Trying to avert multiple core meltdown

Tokyo Electric Power Co is planning to vent more steam from the core containment units to reduce the danger of explosion and core meltdown, but that entails releasing even more radiation into the environment.

Power Shortages

Several areas near the quake area have been without electricity [as well as water, gas and phone services] since the megaquake struck two days ago.

Tokyo electricity is currently buying power from western Japan districts, and people have been asked to conserve electricity.

Mounting Aftershocks

A total of 170 significant aftershocks (≥5.0) have now struck near the east coat of Honshu, mostly close to the Mega Quake’s epicenter.

The Sinking Land

The land in many areas of Miyagi prefecture has sunk by about 70cm, trapping water brought in buy the deadly tsunami waves.